Sophie Rimheden
 
Du bist nicht allein. Das ganze Interview zur Story über Sophies funky Glitch-Pop, ihre anderen Projekte und über das Leben als Produzentin in Schweden.
(2003.10.22, 14:28)

Your music is very layered, at some times quite experimental ("glitchy"), but there is still always that over all pop appeal. How did you arrive at this original mixture?

My thoughts when I started with the music for "HI-FI" (December 2001) was that I wanted it to be glitch and to have a lot of strange sounds but still an easy melody. That was what I was looking for in music that I wanted to buy myself, but no one did that kind of music. I think that the clicks and cuts scene needed something new. I started to mix vocals and melody with glitch on the song "Don´t Follow" that participates on the Electric Ladyland (mille plateaux, 2001) compilation, but then the melody and vocals where more R´n´B. Now it is pop music from the 80s. And the next release will maybe be something completely different. The only thing that is important is that I mix glitch and melodies, and the pop sound from the 80´s is what I listen to for the moment.

I was wondering how old you are when I noticed the 80ies influences in your music - did you experience the 80ies yourself and grew up through them, or is it more of a retro fascination?

I was born in 1975, and I listened very much to music in the 80s. I bought a lot of records, and every Christmas I got at least one vinyl record.

A lot of people whom I played your album "HI-FI" to noticed that the vocoder-like effects reminded them a lot of recent Madonna tracks. Was that your intention?

When I produced my "HI-FI" there was nothing else with the same sound (it got finished August 2002), so no, that was not my intention. At first I just cut up the vocals and put some effects on them, but I thought there was something wrong with the mix. The music sounds very digital, and the vocals when they did not sound digital did not fit. It sounded like the vocals were in one world, and the music was in a completely different world. But then I tried the autotune plugin in sound forge, and it made the vocals more digital. A perfect match! I don´t use autotune to fix my singing to be correct, I use it to make the vocals digital. On the song "Don´t follow" that I mentioned earlier, there is no autotune. There I only cut up the vocals, and put effects on them. So I work in different ways.

Why do you use this autotune effect so much - it is very intense and it does not really make for "easy listening". Do you somehow like to challenge people?

My intention was never to make the music easy listening, I wanted to make something new and different. Now I have noticed that even "ordinary" people like the music. I think that is because of the easy melodies. The sound is digital and has a lot of noise, but still a melody to sing along. And the synthesizers and guitar were recorded into my computer to make it more glitchy and digital.

Was it important for you to sing - since a lot of electronic tracks feature no vocals. Was it hard for you to sing (many people are especially shy about singing, I noticed), or have you always sung and are used to your voice?

I have always sung! I started when I was very young, with my own songs. Then I used to sit with my guitar or with an electric organ and sing. Sometimes I used to sit on a swing at my grandparents' big garden on the countryside. There I sat all alone and just sang. I made up lyrics and melodies when I sat there. When I listen to other music in the clicks and cuts genre, I think there should be something to follow. It does not have to be vocals, but maybe a melody. And since I like to sing, it was a very good idea to use my vocals as an instrument. That is what I do. I use my vocals as any instrument at all.

How do you go about writing your lyrics, and is it important to you that people understand them?

I work very fast when I write lyrics. On "HI-FI", I wanted to mix pop and glitch. My idea of an ordinary pop song is that the lyrics are very easy and the melody is very simple. So I have tried to make simple melodies and easy lyrics. The intention was never for people to understand really... but for them to understand the concept. I want people to understand the whole picture. Not to complain about the bad lyrics, but to see my idea of it all. I think it would never fit to sing deep and strange lyrics to the music. When I wrote lyrics for my other project Hayce on the album "Underneath the Floor" that was released in 1999, the lyrics were very surreal and strange. That suited the trip-hop music that I made very well.

How did your deal with Mitek come about, did they approach you or the other way around?

I knew Mikael Stavöstrand before, and when I played live here in Stockholm he came (March 2002). One of the organizers had gotten a demo before the gig, and Mikael had listened to it. He was very interested, and wanted me to send him a demo. He liked it, and wanted to release it.

How do you find time to still work on your other music projects? Can you tell me a little about them?

I have three projects; Ban Ham, Hayce and Sophie Rimheden. Ban Ham is instrumental Electronica based on acoustic instruments such as guitar, mouth-organ, drums, and they are recorded into my computer, and then made digital. Ban Ham has participated on two Electronica compilations; Nattskift (Flora & Fauna, 2003) and Collectanea, Swedish Electronica (DVD, Escapi, 2003). Ban Ham is kind of slow and sad.
Hayce is trip-hop/dub, and has participated on a few compilations a few years ago. Hayce has released one full-length album, Underneath the Floor (Memento Materia, 1999). The newer Hayce is more experimental and more dub. It is a dub beat that repeats and guitar (I often have other musicians who participate), and strange and surreal vocals. Now I use all my time for the Sophie Rimheden project and Ban Ham, but soon I will work more with Hayce again. Not enough time I´m afraid. I work very fast, so I have time with these two projects and to produce vocals for other producers such as Håkan Lidbo, Vita, Johan Fotmeijer and Martin Jarl, and Differnet. The first release with my vocals will be the Differnet album where I have produced the vocals on one track called "How?". That album will be released after this summer on the Swedish label Friendly Noise.

Since you study film: what kinds of films / directors do you like the most? Do you plan on being a director later on, or rather a full time musician? Do films influence your music?

I love surreal and strange films. A movie also has to have something new and different. My favourite directors are David Lynch and Aki Kaurismäki. All movies that they have made are great! When I see a film that has something new and odd, I get influenced and want to create. Not only music, it could also be to paint or to take pictures or to make a film. I get inspired. I would love to be a director, but that is not the intention of my studying. I want to work with film in some way. Later on, I will start to write film reviews for a Swedish local paper, and that is something I would like to do in the future. For now it will be as an extra job, since I will continue studying for a couple of years. Something that I have as a dream is to make film music. I will always make music, but I would like to work with film in some way, too. Painting is also something that I will always do. When I take pictures, paint or make films they are very strange and abstract and it shows that I have made them. My works follow a pattern, and they are very surreal and maybe a little scary.

I read that your family always encouraged you to make music - what kind of music were you exposed to as a child, what kind of music do your parents make?

My father plays the guitar, and has always played Beatles-covers. He and a friend play together, and they record it on the computer with Cubase. My father has bought an old synthesizer from me for a few years ago. He has made a few own songs too. My older brother was the one who introduced me to electronic music. It started with me sitting beside him and just watching when he worked. I came with suggestions, and we made a few songs together. I was often the singer. Then after a while I wanted to make electronic music on my own. I bought an ATARI when I was 13 and a couple of years later my first synthesizer. My mother used to play the guitar and sing, but not much today I´m afraid. The reason that my parents never became anything is not that they don´t manage their instruments, I think they are very good, but the reason is bad self-confidence. My brother and I also have bad self-confidence, but not as much as our parents I think :)
My parents listen to new music as well, not at all what other people in the same age listen to.

Did you always live in Stockholm, and how was growing up there like?

No, I moved to Stockholm in August 1999. I grew up in the south of Sweden, a small town called Hässleholm. We were a few people that made electronic music there, and we helped and inspired each other. A little competition of course, but sometimes that is good. Even if I am a girl, I was one in the gang and I inspired and helped other girls in the gang. That is something that I hope I will with my "HI-FI" too, inspire other girls to make electronic music with computers.

What do you like most about Stockholm, and what do you dislike most?

I like living in Stockholm, but soon I want to live in a bigger town... It is the best place to live in if you live in Sweden I think. Here are Electronica places and record stores with electronic music. A few Electronica concerts too, which is hard to find in the rest of Sweden. But there could be more and more people going to them...

What is your average day like, what does it look like?

I wake up at noon, and the first thing I do is put on coffee. When the coffee is getting ready I start the computer and get ready with clothes and stuff. Then I check my email and then drink coffee and eat something. I have to drink coffee in the morning, or else I will not function. Then I listen to the stuff I made the day before, and get new ideas how to proceed. Then I start working with my music. When I make music, time goes by very fast. I often produce one complete song during two or three days with vocals and everything. Now during the summer I mostly make music. I sit up until three to five o'clock at night. I can not sing during night, so I have to do that during the day. I have to think about my neighbours... Some days I do not leave my apartment at all. That is why I have to have a job doing something else in a different place. I could never have a job from nine to five, but something that makes me go out for a while.

Are you part of an active electronic music scene in Stockholm, what is it like there compared to other (European) cities you know? Is it a good city for composing electronic music?

Here are not a lot of people making electronic music, but we are a few. Here, much more people are interested in electronica than in other cities in Sweden. Every day I think more and more people discover electronic music. Here are more clubs now than there were last year, not very big ones, but still. I want to see more of the electronic scene in other cities in Europe, and I hope I will...

I was wondering about your band name Ban Ham, if it had anything to do with vegetarianism, and now I read that you are a vegan. That's great! Is it hard to get vegan food in Stockholm or Sweden in general? Are you an activist of any sort, or is that just a private decision because you like animals?

I am absolutely not an activist... I love animals. Ban Ham has totally to do with veganism, yes. Every song has titles that have something to do with it too. For example "Food", "Meal", "Run", "Still", "Red" and so on... about animals becoming food. It is rather easy to find vegan food here in Stockholm, at restaurants and in stores. I think it is easier here than other big cities in Europe. My Ban Ham is all I do for the cause, and of course my eating.

Since you said in the same interview on the Mitek website that you want to inspire other girls to make music: does it sometimes bother you that you are surrounded mainly by male musicians? Are there other women you (net)work with or who inspire you? Do you consider yourself a feminist?

It is very sad that not more girls make electronic music on computers, and I surely hope that I will inspire more girls with my "HI-FI" album. One woman that really inspires me is Björk. I do not consider myself as a feminist. I want everything to be equal, and I want guys to be more feminine. For me it is a natural thing that guys and girls are the same, and that was what I grew up with. I really hope that people are listening to my music and that they enjoy it not only because I am a girl. I want to be considered as a musician, not as a female musician.

I am sure you have been asked this lots of time, but I always wonder about this: why do you think aren't there more women doing electronic music? A lot of people say that women are "socially conditioned" to be more nervous about technology - how was that with you, since you started really young and had your Atari and everything?

I think it is the technology that scares girls, but I also think that there are more girls making electronic music than we know. They are too scared to show it, maybe because there are too few. They are sitting at home making music, and no one knows about it. But that is just a thought...